The Many Different Styles Of Pizza

It is incredible that a dish that basically contains the same three core ingredients can result in such a variety of different tastes. The pizza in its very basic form is dough, sauce, and a blanket of cheese and meat (and sometimes vegetables).

From these core components, there have been many innovative pizza aficionados willing to improvise when it comes to their beloved pizza pie. The result? A rainbow of pizza styles that are tasty and beloved representations of its humble roots.

St. Louis style

The crust of the St. Louis style pizza is a cracker-like crust as it does not contain yeast. The cheese used is a Provel cheese rather than the mozzarella. Provel cheese is most common in the St. Louis area and is made by combining cheddar, mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

Chicago thin crust

Chicago thin crust pizza delivers a thinner, crisper crust and is generally served in squares rather than the traditional pie pieces. A group outside of Chicago developed a variation using spicy sausage and larger amounts of meat.

California style

California-style pizza uses a typical dough base and then veers off course from the norm by using unusual and unique ingredients and toppings to liven it up. Chef Ed LaDou is credited with the creating this recipe by using ricotta, red peppers, pate and mustard. Hired by Chef Wolfgang Puck to work in his restaurant. LaDou continued to change the look and taste of pizzas using duck sausage and smoked salmon to top his pies. When he put together his first menu for California Pizza Kitchen, his signature recipes became known as California-style pizzas.

New England Greek

The House of Pizza’s, found in New England, were mostly started by Greek immigrants. Their style won them the title of New England Greek pizza. The crust is in between thick and thin. This crust is also baked in a heavy greased cake pan. New England greek style pizzas are topped mostly with Greek ingredients; artichokes, feta and kalamata olives. Some are only topped with tomato sauce and cheese.

Tomato pie

This is a type of pizza created in the early 1900’s when Italian-Americans emerged in the Philadelphia area. Different from the New York Style, this pie has the cheese and toppings placed under the tomato sauce.

New York thin

New York thin pizza was created in New York City in the 1900’s and is considered a mild form of the Neapolitan style. The crust is thin and crunchy and includes a fine balance of thin tomato sauce as well as a lot of mozzarella cheese. Most people fold their slice of pizza over like a sandwich with this style.

Roman pizza

The Roman pizza has a thin to medium crust made from olive oil, water, yeast, salt and flour. The oil makes it different than the Neapolitan dough and makes it a crispy crunchy texture.

Neopolitan

The Neopolitan style pizza is known as the original. This is the recipe that came from Italy and was brought to the United States by Italian immigrants. The dough is made from wheat flour and baked thin and crunchy in a wood-fired oven. The traditional pizza has minimal toppings as too much cheese or sauce will weigh down the crust, making it soggy.

Chicago deep dish or stuffed

Pizzeria Uno, a restaurant in Chicago in the 1940’s, is credited for creating a deep pizza crust that lined a dish much like a cake pan. The crust is actually thin and the thickness comes from the large amount of ingredients or toppings. This pizza is so thick that it needs a longer baking time than the average. Cheese cannot be put on top because it would burn during the baking time.

The method of layering is then done “upside down”. The cheese is on the bottom, then the vegetables, followed by the meat and the sauce is the top layer. This method of layering allows the vegetables and meats to cook properly.

Detroit style

Detroit style pizza is square shaped with a deep dish crust. Many times, this dish is made with a marinara sauce on top. The Detroit style crust is normally baked in a well-oiled pan so that the edges caramelize and get crunchy.

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